Monday, May 9, 2016

Go Tiger Go - Premier "Inhale" (+ interview)

I tell Paul Corsi that the Go Tiger Go song “Inhale” is
ridiculously catchy. So catchy…

“Yeah,” he nods, “that’s the goal…Well, it's one goal...”

Corsi, who plays guitar and sings in this Detroit-based
quartet along with Matt Puz (bass/vocals), Ryan Patten (drums) and Steve
Delaney (guitar/vocals), says that there’s actually two goals. No, not goals…
Two factors… Two main considerations…

The intent of the group is essentially to
defy preconceptions about power-pop, and inject it with a bit more grit, more substance,
and more introspection… The intent, obviously, is to produce an insanely catchy
recording that’s fun to listen to… But the other side of it is a keen
appreciation for the live show; particularly the live show as experience.

Go Tiger Go want you to come up and talk to them after the
show. They want you have a beer with you before the show. They want you leaving
the show with their songs stuck in your head. But they want all those things
for the right reasons; namely…that their authentic charisma was enough to charm
you. Can you practice that? No. But these guys start off with two key
ingredients: nice & humble. The third ingredient? They can write a damned
catchy pop song.

Having a sound that’s got personality is “…the foundation of
Go Tiger Go…” said Corsi, who started the band a little more than four years
ago with another since-bygone lineup of players. Puz and Patten joined the band
about three years ago, while Delaney came on board about six months ago. The
song “Inhale” was written earlier in their run and has even developed its own
dance. Rather, local music fans who come to Go Tiger Go fans invented one for the song, wriggled along to the
infectious chorus as some hybrid of the twist and a baseball stadium “wave…”

The bands’ collective influences range from the Beatles to
Rush, pure pop to meticulously arranged prog, with garnishes of garage, grunge
and 90’s indie-rock. Corsi said that his favorite band from Detroit was always The
Von Bondies, and particularly praised their Lack
of Communication album as an ideal influence for GTG’s own manifestations
of gritty buzzsaws & fist-pumping fun.

I ask if he’s just going for pop with way less sugar… And he
says, “…well, at least without any
artificial sweetener…”

Go Tiger Go are throwing an EP celebration show this Saturday at Small’s. The band’s had the three songs recorded a little while
ago, but “releasing” them, digitally, is essentially their starting of a next
chapter, essentially. Back to that charm thing? That being-nice thing? Corsi
says he’s just giving the songs away because GTG haven’t “deserved” the right,
so to speak, to charge their fans. It’s something they want to earn, wholly and
sincerely…

More than once, Corsi repeats the phrase “I just want people
to have a good time…” But, going back to that giving-away-their-music-for-free
notion, Corsi actually has some extensive thoughts and arguments about that.

“Each show is like an
interview, for us,” said Corsi, referring to an encounter during which they
should be expected, in a way, to win-over an audience. “It’s about breaking
that fourth wall between the audience and musician; you’re not just there
listening, you (the audience) should be participating…”

The band wants to get to work on the next EP and work with
the most exceptional producer they can possibly find. The goal, the intent,
this time… will be physical copies. But MEANWHILE, you can hear more songs
here, and catch the band Saturday at Small’s…